Swallowing Disorders

What are swallowing disorders?

Swallowing difficulties may occur as a result of neurological events such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, and vocal cord paralysis or generalized weakness. Speech therapy focuses on the oral and pharyngeal stages of swallowing. Individuals with esophageal problems are usually referred to a gastroenterologist or otorhinolaryngologist. Symptoms related to swallowing disorders may include one or more of the following:

coughing or choking after eating or drinking

wet or gurgly vocal quality

weak cough reflex

weak voice

difficulty managing saliva

difficulty chewing or managing food in the mouth

multiple swallows to clear food

food or liquid coming out of the nose

weight loss related to poor food/fluid intake

frequent episodes of chest congestion or pneumonia

dehydration and/or frequent urinary tract infections

How can UCF help?

Clinical faculty members from the Communication Disorders Clinic, in conjunction with an otorhinolaryngologist (Ear Nose and Throat [ENT] physician), offer evaluations and treatment of oral and pharyngeal stage swallowing difficulties.

What is the evaluation procedure?

Comprehensive evaluations are conducted to determine the cause of the swallowing disorder. These evaluations include both instrumentation as well as observation.

Evaluations may include:

oral mechanism exam

bedside swallowing examination

FEES (Fiberoptic Endoscopic Exam)- FEES is an exam that evaluates the swallowing mechanism by passing a flexible fiberoptic endoscope into the back of the mouth to visualize the swallow as the client is fed foods of varying consistency. The speech-language pathologist, in conjunction, with the ENT physician, can observe the movement of food through the throat into the esophagus allowing diagnosis of swallowing disorders.

Clients who received an evaluation for swallowing at another location within the past three months should send the report along with the UCF case history form to the Communication Disorders Clinic.

In addition, clients need to send any relevant medical evaluations including radiological reports (neuroimaging). This will provide information useful in determining whether additional evaluation procedures need to be completed.

patient and caregiver education and training for safe swallow protocol and recognition of signs and symptoms of aspiration

Frequency of therapy services ranges from once a week, multiple sessions a week and/or intensive therapy for six weeks. Therapy options will be discussed with each client after the completion of an evaluation.